The capercaillie Tetrao urogallus is widely accepted as a species seriously suf fering from fragmentation of forests and habitat loss. Foresters as well as conservationists agree on the need and principles for maintaining viable pop ulations, but the proposed management means often differ. The approach cur rently favoured by Finnish foresters is to manage capercaillie leks and their sur roundings using methods that differ from those used in intensive forestry. It may be desirable to prove that forests with capercaillie leks also favour other for est bird species and biodiversity in general. During the last 16 years (1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002), forest birds have been censused and capercaillie leks were mapped in the 465-km2 study area in southern Finland. Most of the study area consists of sprucedominated mature forests. The remainder of the landscape is a mixture of var iously aged forests, agricultural areas, lakes and scattered human settlements with a gradient from an agricultural-forest mosaic to forest-dominated areas. The old-growth forest bird species three-toed woodpecker Picoides tridactylus, pygmy owl Glaucidium passerinum and red-breasted flycatcher Ficedula parva were more abundant within 300 m and 1,000 m radii around capercail lie lek sites than in non-lek control sites. Also the overall species richness of breeding forest birds was higher in the vicinity of capercaillie leks. On a larg er scale (100 x 100 km squares), using the wildlife triangle scheme developed in Finland, we show that the density of capercaillie closely coincides with a wildlife richness index describing the total abundance of 15 other forestdwelling mammal and bird species with diverse ecology and habitat require ments. Capercaillie is a flagship species for foresters, and can be considered a good candidate for an umbrella species for wildlife in taiga forests.
Countries are increasingly shifting responsibility for large carnivore management from central to local government authorities. The three countries in FennoscandiaFinland, Norway, and Sweden-are no exception. In all three countries new approaches to large carnivore management have emerged, including some elements of decentralization, which is intended to increase efficiency, and improve the equity, participation, and transparency of the government to the citizenry. Although the three countries are similar in terms of their biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics, they have chosen three different decentralization strategies. In Norway a representative model of decentralization has emerged, whereas the Swedish and Finnish model has a corporatist character. This comparative study of policies relating to the large carnivores in the three countries focuses on the actors, and their powers and accountability, and demonstrates that the different strategies result in no significant increase in power at the local or regional level.
Although human infections caused by Trichinella sp. have not been reported in Finland for several decades and Trichinella sp. infection in pork has become virtually extinct in the last decade, sylvatic Trichinella spp. infection is still highly prevalent in Finland. Muscle digestion of 2,483 carnivorous wild animals from 9 host species during 1999-2005 showed 617 positive animals (24.8%). Molecular identification from 328 larval isolates revealed 4 different endemic Trichinella species, i.e., T. nativa, T. spiralis, T. britovi, and T. pseudospiralis. Seven percent of the infected animals carried mixed infections. Trichinella nativa was the most common species (74%), but T. spiralis was identified in 12%, T. britovi in 6%, and T. pseudospiralis in 1% of the animals. Host species showed different sample prevalence and Trichinella species distribution. Geographical distribution also varied, with the southern part of the country having significantly higher percentages than the northern part. Infection density was dependent on both the infecting Trichinella species and the host species. Trichinella spiralis was discovered in areas with no known domestic infection cases, indicating that it can also occur in the sylvatic cycle. Raccoon dogs and red foxes are the most important reservoir animals for T. spiralis , as well as for the sylvatic Trichinella species in Finland.
We aimed to recognise beaver‐produced ecosystem services and quantify their theoretical value for the entire Northern Hemisphere. Activity of the Eurasian beaver Castor fiber and the North American beaver Castor canadensis in the landscape provides ecosystem services and disservices. Services produced by beaver activity include water purification, moderation of extreme events, habitat and biodiversity provision, nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas sequestration, recreational hunting and fishing, water supply, and non‐consumptive recreation. Beaver‐produced services have not been compiled, analysed, or quantified previously. Each service we evaluated is worth millions to hundreds of millions of US dollars (USD) annually. Habitat and biodiversity provision (133 million USD), along with greenhouse gas sequestration (75 million USD), are particularly valuable services in absolute terms, while non‐consumptive recreation (167 USD ha−1) and habitat and biodiversity provision (133 USD ha−1) have the largest annual per‐hectare values. Our results can be used to broaden decision‐making and management perspectives, as we offer value estimates to wildlife managers and municipality planners for assessing local site‐specific beaver wetland values and the opportunities for their realisation. Implementing Payments for Ecosystem Services schemes offer a concrete way for societies to benefit from beaver‐produced services while concurrently compensating beaver‐produced losses accrued to landowners. Building such schemes offer long‐term realisation of ecosystem services and damage mitigation. This would lead to increased societal well‐being and increased conservation interest and efforts.
Sustainable forest management (SFM) has a long tradition in Finland, and modern sustainability concepts link economic, ecological and social aspects. The ecological aspect refers to the maintenance of biodiversity and the long-term functionality of forests, while the economic aspects concern continuity of timber supply. Socially sustainable forest management takes multiple use into consideration. These three components of SFM are commonly regarded as competing, or even exclusive, suggesting that there are trade-offs between them. Relationships between components of SFM, however, differ across spatial and temporal scales. Interdisciplinary research is needed to explore the interaction between sustainability components. This study explored the interrelationships between ecological, social and economic sustainability at the regional scale. Regional differences of sustainability components were also studied. Two economic, two social and eight ecological variables were included in the analyses. The study covered 41 regional municipality complexes in central Finland. The results show tradeoffs between some ecological components and economic ones. Grouse abundance and numbers of old-growth forest patches decreased when forestry activity increased. There was some support for the idea that socially active communities compete less intensively with ecological components of forests than communities where forestry has a central role.
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